This invention relates to an improvement in the electrical connector as disclosed in PCT International Application No. PCT/US87/01965. More particularly, it relates to an improved latching mechanism to maintain engagement of the connector housing and cover in situations where the connector may be subject to vibrations. The invention is generally directed to an electrical connector of the type in which a conductor can be terminated by forcible insertion transversely of its axis along a conductor receiving slot of a contact member. Such contact member is mounted in a cavity in an insulating housing body adjacent one end and retained in the slot by engagement with a cover member movable into latching engagement with the housing body to engage the conductor thereby to retain the conductor in the slot.
In connectors of this type, the cover member is provided with latching projections engageable in eyes formed in the housing body adjacent a cover member receiving end to latch the cover member to the housing body.
Such connectors have become increasingly widely used, particularly in the automotive and domestic appliance industries as they are well adapted for assembly by automated, mass production, techniques and yet ensure a very reliable, insulated, electrical connection to the conductor fur use in adverse environments subject to vibration.
In some applications it is necessary for the conductor to be retained while bent through a right angle to extend in the direction of the slot axis as it exists from a first side of the housing body, as described in French Patent No. 8000301 (4851). In that prior proposal, the cover member is formed with a conductor receiving channel formed with inwardly directed projections which secure the existing portion of conductor in the channel thereby retaining the conductor in bent condition.
However, disadvantages of using the cover to retain the conductor in bent condition are that the considerable stress imposed on the cover, which is a relatively small plastic part, increases the distortion of the cover with risk of unlatching from the housing body or reduction in the force retaining the conductor in the slot, reducing the electrical reliability. Additionally, vibrations may cause the cover to become disengaged from the housing.